CELEBRITIES from the world of both professional and amateur boxing gathered at The Heywood pub on Saturday for an emotional retirement party for Heywood's "Mr Boxing," Mick Rosser.

Mick, 65, of Edgworth Close, has taught generations of lads at the Darnhill and Heywood Amateur Boxing Club for more than 40 years. He has decided the time has come to give up coaching and hand over to younger ones - but still plans to help out at the club.

Hundreds of people packed the pub to show their appreciation for all Mick's work.

And Mick, a former Army boxing champion, admitted he was almost floored by the number of celebrities and old friends who took the trouble to go along.

Fellow coaches and friends, led by Stewart Hampton, had been working away for weeks to organise the event but Mick had no idea it was to be anything more than a get-together among a few friends.

Among the top names there was American heavyweight Earnie Shavers, said to be the best fighter in history never to have won the world title, and Brian Hughes MBE.

Alabama-born Shavers, who now lives on the Wirral, once took Muhammad Ali to 15 rounds and came within a whisker of defeating him.

He was reputed to the biggest hitter of all time.

Devout Christian Shavers now says he "fights for Jesus".

British super-featherweight star Michael Gomez was also there.

Mick said: "It was a marvellous night, but very emotional for me. There were lads there from the boxing club whose dads I taught when they were young."

Instead of making a formal presentation to Mick, the boxers stuck to tradition and had a box at the party for guests to make a donation. More than £500 was collected.